in love of pope francis

I thank God, I thank God, I thank God for the pontificate of Francis, and I thank God that Francis will be always the Bishop of Rome, that he will never leave the chair of Peter.

I, initiated into Mother Church as a child, was drawn by the Spirit of God back into her bosom, was made her child again during the Year of Mercy which Father Francis declared. Francis called the sinners and prayed for them, and I could not stay away.

I love Francis who left the luxury of the Papal Apartments for the simplicity of Casa Santa Marta.

I love Francis who has Faith, who trusts completely in the Spirit of God, who trusts in particular that the documents of the Second Vatican Council are fruit of the Spirit’s work. I love how he demands that those who serve as the Church’s shepherds share that same trust.

I love Francis who has a tender heart for poor people and who is close to the poor. I love how he always shows a face of love toward people whom the Church has traditionally excoriated.

I love how Francis has hard words for faithless sclerotics who with an air of noxious privilege demand that the Church thinks and speaks the same way it has always thunk and spoken.

I love Francis’ impatience with people who interact with him in a shallow way, who use him as a photo prop or see him as a ring to be ceremonially kissed rather than treating him as a brother in the Lord.

I love Francis who demands that nostalgiacs and poseurs not use the Liturgy of God to divide the Church, who seeks to maintain the Body in unity, but to surgically remove any cancer if necessary.

I love Francis who was not always treated as a brother by the religious order that formed him, but who shows no signs of bitterness or grudgeholding toward them, who shows them complete affection.

I love Francis who perseveres, who is reviled by a vocal minority within the Church and who is surely disliked by many Vatican do-nothings, but who continues to follow the Spirit in strength.

Pope Francis is an eternal Pope because all of these qualities of his I love are defining qualities of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Church’s head forever. Francis is a man in whom Jesus is All in All, and we have been graced to see such a man serving as Pope.

Thank you, Father, for the pontificate of your servant, Francis. Live powerfully within him, Lord; live powerfully within him, Spirit. Let me be strong as he is strong and let me love all people as he loves all people. Become All in All within me, within us, as you have within him.

And let his pontificate, which has already borne fruit within me and within the Church, continue to bear more fruit and more fruit and more fruit, now and forever. Amen.